Theory of Action

MIE seeks to dramatically improve student achievement at scale by fundamentally transforming state and local education systems, structures, and policies. Our mission is to provide leadership in closing the achievement and opportunity gaps for underserved students by focusing on system transformation and student academic success. Our work with low-performing schools and districts supports our theory of action:

IF we provide schools with:

Conditions: Sufficient school-level control over people, time, money, and program to address the root causes of low performance;

Planning: Evidence-based, actionable improvement plans that address the root causes of low performance informed by a review of existing conditions and input from school, district, and community stakeholders;

Leadership: A principal who can manage and communicate complexity while maintaining focus on the school’s vision and key priorities;

Instructional Focus: Processes and supports that help teachers work together to constantly improve and refine standards-based instructional practice so that students can engage in deep learning tasks;

Collective Responsibility: The school faculty and staff ensure there is collective responsibility for both the quality of instruction and student learning and success;

Performance Management: Consistent processes for using data to measure both implementation and outcomes to determine what’s working and inform efforts to improve; and

Partnerships: Partnerships that help the school meet the multiple needs of teachers and students,

THEN schools will dramatically improve and student learning will increase.